Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky will hold talks in Paris on Thursday with European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen, NATO secretary general Mark Rutte, and the leaders of Germany, France and the United Kingdom. The Ukrainian presidency announced this on Tuesday.

The line-up mirors the group that accompanied him to the White House, minus the leaders of Italy and Finland. In recent weeks, Western-backed security guarantees for Ukraine have dominated diplomatic initiatives led by the United States to find a way to end Russia’s invasion.

The discussions will be co-chaired by France’s president Emmanuel Macron and United Kingdom prime minister Keir Starmer, with Germany’s chancellor Friedrich Merz also taking part. Presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said the agenda centres on security assurances for Ukraine.

Macron and Starmer, who lead a coalition of around thirty mostly European countries supporting Ukraine, aim to present a strong European offer intended to protect Ukrainians from any future Russian attack should a peace agreement be reached.

Kyiv argues Russia would try to invade again even if a path out of the war is found, and is seeking a European peacekeeping force alongside NATO-style defence guarantees if membership of the Alliance is not envisaged. Moscow, which portrays NATO’s expansion towards its borders as a root cause of the conflict, rejects most of these scenarios and insists its demands be acknowledged.

Source: La Vanguardia